Hot Times...Summer in the South

By Penny4athought

Thu, 25 Jun 2020
  • 1022 reads
6 comments
 

The relentless heat of the noon-day sun wilts the tomato and pepper plants, bending them downward in lethargic fashion. The automatic sprinkler clicks on and sprays the lawn and plants with rejuvenating H2O and the plants valiantly struggle to lift their heads.

The Sunflowers along the path are straight and firm their heads turned to the sun, soaking up the warmth as its roots dig deep for nutrients.

Summer in the South is unrelenting in its heat and few plants and flowers can survive it. Lawns struggle to stay green under the torturous sunshine. Afternoon storms give some relief but once they pass the Sun takes back its residence and soaks up the raindrops, drying the land in minutes.

Birds twitter loudly alerting their flock when water puddles appear and they dive down to drink their fill before the portable bird fountain disappears into the heated ground.

Bees and assorted insects fly into the flowers and cicadas have made an appearance once again. Their song in the tree groves makes one think of spirits. It is a chattering sound, musical and winsome, although the bug itself is not so appealing.

Nature is alive in this harsh summer but humans have difficulty navigating the garden paths in the southern heat and flock instead to the sandy beaches on the coast to catch a wave and hopefully a cooling ocean wind.  

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Comments

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

It's a wonderfu description of the heat and the plants.

It is good that so much does survive, even if temporarily dying back. The problem is more of severe winter freezing in some places. Rhiannon

 

Submitted by Penny4athought on

Yes the freeze will effect the plants as well - but here we do not get much freeze - here the sun is harsh all year round and there are only a few days when we have a cooler day maybe 40o degrees or fifty and those are nice. It is very rare to have a 32 degree day or below- in December I do sometimes wish for snow but that is a true fantasy wish in Florida-- I do miss Christmas in New York  and the changing seasons there but I've learned that those seasons are not as they use to be either - the summers there are longer and harsher and the winters warmer and snow is not an expectation as often anymore -

Penny4athought

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

It sounds like you're having the same weather as us here in England. The heat has been so humid, the sun scorching a lot of plants and leaving them limp. I have to stay indoors,can't stand it this hot, but I know that if you live by the ocean, you do have some breeze, we live miles from any sea or sand.

As a tourist in Florida back in the early 1990s, it was a different kind of heat that never bothered me much, but then I was a lot younger and fitter too. smiley I was always amazed at how green Florida is, and how people look after their gardens, taking care of all their flowers. You took me back there with your piece of writing.

Jenny.

 

Submitted by Penny4athought on

Thank you Jenny- I'm glad my words gave you a glimpse to a past vacation you liked. I wish the heat were not so relenteless and I'm not sure if it is ever going to be those cooler days we remember - I fear climate change is happening around us - and I only hope we do more to stop it sooner than later.

Still - we do have the beauty of our gardens - at least those flowers and plants that can survive it.

Stay cool and think of snow.smiley

Penny4athought

Submitted by ice rivers on

I'm learning about the Southern climate since we moved from Rochester, NY to Charlotte, North Carolina. It feels healthier down here and we take our walks when we can catch the beautiful breeze but even on those days as soon as I walk into the house and get that first blast from the air con....i always say "and that's what I like about the South. 

 

Submitted by Penny4athought on

Yes, here in FL there is Air Conditioning everywhere to beat back the heat- artificial weather from car to work to car to shopping to car to home, sometimes I really do miss NY and all the seasons...Rochester NY has all the seasonal changes but I guess with pretty cold winters =North Caroline, especially near Raleigh Durham, can have some rough rain storms- I know because I always get caught in one whenever I drive I95 from Fl to NY to see family.

Penny4athought